Medieval Journal
Challenge 20:
Find each of the 20 numbered info blocks and use the table below to make notes.
1
Un-finished house - 1. Houses were made
of a wooden frame, with the gaps filled
with woven strips of wood, known as
'wattle', and covered, or 'daubed', with
clay and horse-dung. Most roofs were
thatch.
Market entrance - 2. In November the
poor would elect a 'lord of misrule', who
would wear a paper crown & get up to
mischief. At Christmas poor people would
go round town demanding traders give
them charity.
11
Blacksmith - 3. Medieval shops were
workshops, open to the street for
customers, with the craftsman's house
above. Because few people could read,
signs were a huge model showing the
craftsman's trade.
Church - 4. Holy Days would be marked by
colourful processions, as the different
guilds competed to make the best display.
13
5
Bell tower - 5. At dusk, a bell rang for
curfew, when everyone was supposed to
shut up their house. The gates to the town
would be closed, and a watch would patrol
the streets looking for thieves., and
apprentices who had stayed out late.
15
6
6. Villagers had a tendency to empty
chamberpots out of their window.
16
7
Shop in market - 7. The streets of a
medieval town were narrow and busy.
They were noisy with church bells &
traders calling out their wares. There were
many food sellers, selling such things as
hot sheep's feet & beef-ribs.
17
2
3
4
12
14
Outside Peasents - 11. The medieval
peasant's life was hard & the work back
breaking. It followed the seasons,
ploughing in autumn, sowing in spring,
harvesting in August. Work began at dawn
& finished at dusk.
Peasant house - 12. Inside the hut, a third
of the area was penned off for the
animals, which lived in the hut with the
family. A fire burned in a hearth in the
centre of the hut, so the air was
permanently eye-wateringly smoky.
Furniture was maybe a couple of stools, a
trunk for bedding, and a few cooking pots.
Village Exit - 13. If a serf ran away from his
village to a town and remained free for a
year and a day, he could become a
'freeman' of the town.
Great hall - 14. The great hall would have
at least one fireplace with a chimney. This
was a Norman invention and stopped the
room filling with smoke.
Dining hall - 15. Many nobles lived in
castles. The great hall was the centre of a
castle. The walls were decorated with
tapestries. Everyone except the lord sat on
benches. There was a minstrel gallery for
musicians and singers. At night, the
servants slept on the floor.
Dining hall - 16. Many nobles lived in
castles. The great hall was the centre of a
castle. The walls were decorated with
tapestries. Everyone except the lord sat on
benches. There was a minstrel gallery for
musicians & singers. At night, the servants
slept on the floor.
17. At the top of the castle, the lady would
have a day-room for herself & her maidsin-waiting. This had the largest windows
and the best views After 1200, castles had
panes of glass in the windows.
8
Market - 8. A medieval town would seek a
charter giving it the right to become a
borough. The rich merchants would then
be allowed to choose a mayor and hold a
market.
Stocks - 9. Nobody was supposed to carry
a weapon or wear a mask.
18
18. A day in the life of a medieval lord.
Dawn: Hear Mass, followed by a breakfast
of white bread and wine. white bread and
wine.
….
19
10 Gallows - 10. Criminals were put in the
stocks or the pillory. These were wooden
boards with holes for feet, hands or head.
Crimes such as theft were punished by
hanging.
20
19. The lord had his own room, called the
solar, and his own four-poster bed, with
curtains for privacy.
20. The toilet, also known as the
'garderobe', was usually a chute straight
into the moat. One way to capture a castle
was to climb up the chute.
9
Questions:
Using your notes from the previous task, answer the questions below.
1. What is different about the peasant’s house compared to all the other houses in
the village
2. What is the significance of the ringing of the church bells?
3. What is the ‘Garderobe’?
4. What crimes would you be sent to the stocks for?
5. What were medieval houses made of?
6. How would a ‘Serf’ become a ‘freeman’?
7. What did villagers do on Holy Days?
8. What is the ‘Lord of missrule’?
9. What is the ‘Solar’ and who used it?
10. What is a ‘Charter’?
18. A day in the life of a medieval lord. Dawn: Hear Mass, followed by a breakfast of white bread
and wine. white bread and wine.
Morning: The lord would speak with his reeve, the general manager for his manor. His lady would
perhaps do embroidery. Knights and pages would practise fighting.
10am: Lunch was normally half-a-dozen simple dishes, but if the lord was entertaining guests there
would be many more dishes as well as entertainments such as jesters, fools and jugglers.
Afternoon: Hunting or hawking, or chess and backgammon if the weather was bad.
Late afternoon: Prayers, then a meal. If there were guests, this would be magnificent.
After supper: Listen to the news & stories brought by a travelling minstrel, or just sit and talk.
Bedtime: When the lord decided he wished to go to bed, the household would have a light supper,
say prayers and go to sleep.